Washington -LRB- CNN -RRB- -- A misguided photo shoot of Air Force One over New York City in 2009 terrified residents , infuriated the president , and cost the director of the White House Military Office his job . Now , NASA is working to prevent a similar panic in Washington D.C.

NASA officials this week announced plans for a new mission to monitor air pollution in the Baltimore-Washington traffic corridor that will include a series of low-altitude flights between the two cities . Trying to prevent a repeat of the chaos raised in New York , they are eager to get the word out to the public .

Michael Finneran , spokesman for the DISCOVER-AQ project , says that NASA is publicizing the flights to generate awareness and to make sure people `` wo n't be surprised . '' `` Public safety is paramount , '' he said .

NASA plans to use a P-3B , a 117-foot , four-engine turboprop plane , for flights that will be as low as 1,000 feet . The lower of the two aircraft will fly in spirals over several ground measurement stations along the flight path , which includes Interstate 95 and crosses over the Chesapeake Bay Bridge .

The other aircraft will fly at around 26,000 feet . The flights are scheduled to start no earlier than June 27 and go through July .

Working with federal and state environmental agencies on this analysis , NASA says the flights are critical . All flights will be posted on the NASA website the night before takeoff .

`` For some of these pollutant gases , the satellites are not as effective in detecting the quantities near the ground as they are at higher altitudes , '' Ken Pickering , a project scientist explained . Low-flying aircraft will help answer questions about existing data , and will provide `` a complete picture of air quality over the Baltimore-Washington region , '' Pickering said .

Potential benefits from the research are not limited to Washington . Pickering said that these experiments `` will help NASA design a next generation of air-quality satellites '' leading to analyses for cities across the country , so that `` ultimately public health can be better protected . ''

Flights are scheduled in Houston next , in 2013 , and could be followed by flights in Los Angeles , Birmingham , Alabama or Atlanta .

So if you 're in the Washington D.C. area over the next month , and happen to catch a glimpse of a startlingly low NASA aircraft -- do n't hold your breath . In fact , NASA is hoping the new study will help everyone breathe easier .

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NASA planes will sample Washington D.C.-Maryland air

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Agency is worried low flights could cause undue concern

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Mission essential to gather data , agency says

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Washington area to be sampled first